Isma’il’s blue eyes never left hers. “You’ve already had that.”
“I want it again.”
“No.”
She blinked. “No? Why not?”
“Because I do not want to give you the kind of kiss you expect, Lily.”
Heat swept over her skin. Stopped her breath, her heart thudding loudly in her ears. “And what kind of kiss do you think I’m expecting?”
“Something gentle. Something light.” Turquoise eyes glittered in the light of the setting sun, burning her. “And I cannot do either with you.”
“Why not?”
“Why do you think? I want you too much.”
“So?” She leaned forward, the lean, powerful length of his body sitting so close. He was hotter than the sand, hotter than the sun. And she was sick of running from the heat between them. Sick of letting memories of Dan pollute her life. “I want you too.”
“No, Lily.”
“Stop protecting me. You’re worse than Dan, treating me like a bloody victim!”
The heat ignited in his eyes and suddenly he moved, a hand at the back of her head, hard fingers lacing through her hair, gripping her. Holding her still. “You really want to know what I want to do to you, Lily Harkness? You really want a taste of what I’m capable of?”
The breath shuddered in her throat, but she didn’t look away, meeting the challenge in his eyes with her own. “Yes,” she gasped.
“Last chance.”
“I don’t need a chance. Show me what I should be so afraid of, Sheikh.”
His fingers in her hair tightened almost painfully. “Isma’il,” he said, in a fierce, hard voice. “That is my name. Say it.”
“Isma’il,” she breathed, because she’d been dying to say his name, but hadn’t allowed herself the pleasure of it.
And then his mouth came down, hard and hot and sure on hers.
This kiss bore no resemblance to the one she’d given him. Hers had been careful, hesitant. But his wasn’t. One hand gripped her chin, forcing her head back, his thumb pushing her lip down, opening her mouth to his. She gasped and he took advantage, the heat of his tongue invading her, exploring her, raw and hot and dominant.
So good. So intense. She pressed her palms against the hard wall of his chest, his skin burning through the cotton of his shirt, felt the heat of him like a fire against her. He answered her touch by pulling her head back further, kissing her harder, deeper.
She could taste his need for her. Feel the intensity of it. Rough and demanding, no holding back. And she revelled in it. Loved the feeling of power it gave her. How it made her into a woman instead of a victim.
She wasn’t ready when he let her go and she couldn’t stop the moan of protest when he released her with a sharp movement, surging to his feet.
“I didn’t say stop,” she panted, kneeling on the sand, staring up at him.
He towered over her, one hand pushing his black hair off his face, his eyes glittering with desire, color burning on his sharp cheekbones. A thrill went through her to see his usual urbane charm stripped away, leaving something raw and passionate in its place.
“That is not up to you,” he said in a cracked voice.
She got to her feet. “Why shouldn’t it be? Why shouldn’t I have what I want for a change?”
“Because you do not understand what you’re asking for.”
“Don’t patronize me, Isma’il. I know exactly what I’m asking for. And if that kiss is an example of what you can give me, then I’m telling you, that’s what I want.”
“Sex in the dunes? Is that truly what you want? Because that is exactly what you’ll get if I kiss you again.”
She swallowed. “What would be so bad about that?”
“For one thing I have no protection. For another, I do not have anything to put down over the sand.” His blue eyes held hers. “And for a third, I will not have sex with a virgin on a sand dune.”
Lily didn’t bother to contradict his assumption. If her inexperienced kiss hadn’t given it away, it was easy enough to infer given her response to what Dan had done to her. “What does my virginity matter? It’s just a reminder of what that assault took from me. It means nothing to me whatsoever.”
His hand dropped to his side. “It may not mean anything to you, but it means something to me.”
“Why? Why should it matter to you?”
“Because a moment that should have been precious to you was ruined by one man. I will not ruin another.”
She took a step towards him. “Dan only ruined that moment because I let him. That’s what you told me and you were right. But you won’t ruin this one. I won’t let you.”